Re: A Brief History of the Pennsbury School Buildings

Edited from article on the Pennsbury School District website 2/7/2024 and from recollections of Carol Regan, a longtime Director of the Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation and a lifelong resident of the Fallsington community, htl

Founded in 1948, the Pennsbury School District [ed: used the Fallsington school building as its first high school until the high school building on Makefield road was built in 1951. This building became the Pennwood Middle School and the Fallsington building became what is now the Pennsbury Administration Building.] By 1965, a new Pennsbury High School was opened in Fairless Hills on Hood Boulevard to welcome the Class of 1966 and beyond. The site adjoined an existing campus that stretched to Olds Boulevard and already included Medill Bair High School (1960) and the former William Penn Junior High (1955). Medill Bair and William Penn schools were combined as one large building to house 9th and 10th graders, while 11th and 12th grade students attended Pennsbury Senior High School.

During this time the school district built about a dozen elementary and middle schools to meet population needs and refurbished and upgraded aging and obsolete facilities.

By 2005-06, Pennsbury High School became known as a “unified campus,” with 9th to 12th grade students attending classes across two buildings known as PHS East on Hood Boulevard and PHS West on Olds.

A 2019 building utilization study and facility assessment led to an increasing desire for one high school building for grades 9-12 to eliminate the travel between schools, improve upon building efficiencies and develop a more secure school campus.

In 2024, the Pennsbury School Board selected an architect firm to design a new high school for grades 9-12, which was to be located on the existing Fairless Hills campus. Plans called for the school’s construction to begin in 2025, with doors projected to open for students in 2029.

A demographic report indicated that the high school enrollment would remain at about 2800 students at that time. As of 2024 there  were 15 public schools.

Type                                     Name                                  Grades           Enrollment 

High school                         Pennsbury High School      9-12               2,891

Middle school                      Charles H. Boehm              6-8                 713

Middle school                      Pennwood                           6-8                 755

Middle school                      William Penn                      6-8                 961

Elementary school               Walt Disney                        KG-5             339

Elementary school               Manor                                 KG-5             434

Elementary school               Afton                                   KG-5            499

Elementary school               Edgewood                           KG-5            501

Elementary school               Eleanor Roosevelt              KG-5             566

Elementary school               Fallsington                         KG-5             267

Elementary school               Makefield                           KG-5            363

Elementary school               Oxford Valley                    KG-5             392   

lementary school                 Penn Valley                        KG-5             407

Elementary school               Quarry Hill                        KG-5             446

Elementary school               Village Park Academy      PRE-K           ???

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Above information, artist rendition of new high school and various photos from "PHS Project FAQs" article on the Pennsbury SD website., B&W photos with embedded notes from Pennsbury School District calendar 2008-2099.  Some information came from "Lesson in early Lower Makefield Schoolhouses" by Helen Heinz as published by the Bucks County Herald. Other photos from internet searches. Harold Long 2/8/2025